It's a Matter of Principle
by MargaritaVille108
Summary: Ever since the incident at the end of fifth year, Lily Evans has tried to erase James Potter from her life; however, in seventh year, things begin to change.


Hello! It's been a while since I've written a one-shot and I'm so happy I got this one in before school starts. I've always thought about how Lily changed her mind about dating James so here is a look at her seventh year and why she finally decided to give him a chance.

It's a Matter of Principle

Lily Evans took in every moment of this day as much as she could. It was the last time she would be boarding the Hogwarts Express on her first day of school. As she weaved through the endless mass of students, parents, trunks, and carts, she kept her eyes peeled for sight of a friend. Alice would be here somewhere, probably with Frank, her boyfriend, in tow.

After wandering around for several minutes, Lily decided it would be best to load her trunk on the train and then look for Alice and Frank. She made her way over the train door, climbing up. She struggled a bit. Her trunk seemed to be even more heavy than usual this year. Normally, if a friend weren't close by to help, her father would help her lift it; however, he and her mother, left immediately after driving her to the station in order to make a lunch meeting with her sister, Petunia's, new boyfriend, Vernon's, family. She tired, with one last forceful tug to pull the trunk up on the train, and suddenly, it lifted easily. Confused Lily turned around to see what caused it to become lighter and came face to face with James Potter. "There you go," he said quietly. Lily felt heat rise in her cheeks. She knew for at least a minute she stood there with her mouth a bit ajar as she stared into James's eyes.

"Err…thanks," she said trying to hide the sound of shock in her face. James returned her gratitude with nothing, but a gentle smile.

Lily had dealt with James Potter and his mates before, but, with the exception of Remus Lupin, she had hardly acknowledged their existence since fifth year. That was the year where everything changed. James Potter and the Marauder's immaturity had reached the capacity that Lily could handle and she ended up calling James a toe rag. She also lost her best friend, Severus Snape, when he called her a mudblood. True, James tried to defend her, and Lily's friendship with Snape was headed down a bad road anyway, but it was James's prank that day that brought about the dramatic end. Severus had tried to apologize, but Lily wouldn't have it. He was headed down a bad road and she couldn't be a part of it.

Lily had insulted James Potter a lot, but that day seemed to change him. Ever since that day he changed, well at least around Lily. At first he was more arrogant than ever, but when that didn't get a rise out of Lily, he stopped. In fact, in sixth year he was actually nicer. He was still a bit arrogant and conceited, especially when it came to Quidditch, but he didn't hex people for the fun of it and, though Lily suspected he must have tried to curse him at least once, he left Severus alone as well. It was strange to see that side of James. Lily was almost impressed. The Professor must have been impressed by this as well because they named James Head Boy for the year.

As Lily walked the train's corridor she caught a glimpse of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter still standing outside all laughing and most likely, something Sirius or James said. James looked different. He was taller. And he had a nice smile. His hair didn't look so awful either.

"Anything interesting out there?" Alice came up behind Lily.

"Oh…err…no, no, just looking at everyone," Lily lied, quickly hugging Alice and then Frank.

"We have a compartment saved," said Alice. "I know you have to go to the prefect carriage for awhile, but you can leave your stuff with us." Lily thanked Alice and followed her and Frank down the corridor to their compartment.

Lily was the first to arrive in the prefect carriage. She thought that would be best considering she was Head Girl. The two new Ravenclaw prefects came in next, introducing themselves and taking their seats. To Lily's surprise, James entered next. He shook the two new prefects' hands and nodded politely to Lily. The rest of the prefects entered in the next few minutes. "Welcome everyone," Lily began. "I'm Lily Evans. I'm the new Head Girl this year and this is James Potter. He's the new Head Boy." A few of the prefects exchanged disbelieving looks.

"I was shocked too," he said causing everyone, including Lily to laugh.

Lily explained the prefect duties. After finishing her speech on the role of the prefect, Lily looked to James giving him a chance to speak. "Oh, no I think you've got it. Like I said, I'm new at this." After handing out schedules, Lily dismissed the prefects. She handed James his schedule.

"Thanks," he said and allowed her to exit the carriage before him.

Lily watched him walk down the corridor in the opposite direction. For years she had been chased and tormented by James Potter. It was a very weird feeling to see him walking in the other direction.

"Now students I know we've done these Befuddling draughts before, but they are essential to know for your N.E.W.T. examinations," said Professor Slughorn as he stood from his desk and began walking around the room to exam the draughts. "I don't want anyone not giving their best effort."

"Ah, Mrs. Evans, wonderful as usual," he beamed at Lily as he passed her cauldron. "I feel a little confused just by walking past."

"Mr. Snape, very good." Lily glanced over at Snape who took no notice to Professor Slughorn's compliment and continued to work on his potion and scribble all over his textbook.

"Mr. Potter…" at first it sounded like Professor Slughorn was expecting to scold him, but he ended with a, "I'm impressed."

"Thanks, Professor," said James politely; however after receiving a rough slap on the back from Sirius, he smirked conceitedly. "_How did he get so smart?"_ Lily thought to herself. Well, truthfully, he had always done well in class, but Lily always presumed that it was just luck. She didn't know he was actually intelligent. She watched him for a few minutes as he added ingredients to his cauldron and talked animatedly to Sirius and two Remus and Peter, who were sitting behind them. He actually seemed like he was putting thought into it. For a second his eyes lifted and almost caught sight of Lily, but she turned away quickly enough.

"And Gryffindor scores! That's 70 to 50!" the announcer bellowed across the Quidditch pitch. Lily wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. It was very cold November morning and Gryffindor was in the middle of a close match with Slytherin. "Slytherin's almost got the snitch! Oh! Nice hit by the Gryffindor beaters!" The Gryffindors breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Now it's James Potter with the Quaffle! And he's almost to the goal…Wait, the Slytherin beaters are out for revenge…Nice duck by Potter!" James ducked a passing bludger missing his head by inches. Lily had to admit, he was a very talented flyer. He was one of the best players on the Quidditch team. He flew like it was so easy. Lily excelled at many things, but flying was not one of them. She was always a little shaky when she had to fly. Not James Potter. One would think he was born on a broomstick.

"Potter Scores!" yelled the announcer. The crowd cheered.

A half hour later the game was over. James had scored four more goals and the seeker had caught the snitch. The Gryffindor stands erupted in applause, chants, and cheers. After the final whistle was blown, they raced onto the pitch to congratulate the team. Lily walked down to the pitch, but remained behind the pack. She was able to see James who was being hounded by a large group of girls, smirking.

That evening, in the common room there was a celebration. Almost everyone was there chatting, eating food snuck upstairs from dinner, and playing exploding snap. Lily was settled comfortably on one o the overstuffed chairs. She had been reading her Charms textbook before the festivities began and, although she tried, wasn't getting much reading done now that it had began. She surveyed the room. Frank and Alice were sitting a few feet away by the fireplace talking quietly. A large group of students was surrounding two fifth years playing exploding snap. The seeker had dodged all of the congratulators and was snogging his girlfriend on the staircase. A hoard of students was filling up on leftovers from dinner. And there was James leisurely leaning against the wall, Sirius smirking at his side, Remus sitting on the window ledge quietly, and Peter, who like the crowd of admirers listening to James, most likely greatly embellished, recap of the game, listened in awe. Of course, James was being conceited as usual. Same old Potter. Same old arrogant…

Lily's conscience then got a hold of her. _ "Why are you so angry with him for being happy that he won the game? Everyone else on the team is happy too. Wouldn't you be happy if you were on the team?" _Lily suddenly felt guilty. James was acting like any other player on the team. She was just looking for excuses to not like him because…. She had never had trouble finding reasons before.

Lily waited outside the Gryffindor common room nervously tapping her foot to pass the time. This was the first night she would have patrol duty with James Potter. She had avoided it thus far, but avoiding completely was impossible. The Head Girl and Head Boy not patrolling together didn't make sense. She heard laughter rising up the stairs. Soon all four Marauders were in view. Lily tried her best to look irritated. Here James was late for patrol because he was out past the curfew, breaking rules with friends. "Lily," he said slightly shocked. "Sorry I'm late."

"Please don't dock points from us!" Sirius cried in mock fear. Peter laughed as if this were the cleverest comment in the world. Lily rolled her eyes. She could dock points, and part of her wanted to, but she decided against it.

"It's fine," she said trying to sound cross, but she wasn't sure how cross it had come off.

"Sorry, Lily," Remus said genuinely before entering the portrait hole. At least he was decent.

After the Marauders were inside the common room, Lily and James stood in silence, avoiding each other's eyes. "So…" James began. "I guess we should patrol," he started walking down the corridor. Lily nodded her head and followed.

Along their route, they had only come across a few first years who were lost and on the brink of tears in fear of losing house points. Both James and Lily directed them back to the common room without any punishment. The entire walk was silent. It was on the point of ridiculousness.

"This is nonsense," Lily thought to herself. She was above this. Just because she…loathed James Potter didn't mean she couldn't hold a civil conversation with him.

"That was a very good match the other day," she broke the silence.

"Wha…" James was surprised at her speaking, "Oh…err…yeah thank you." That was the extent of the Quidditch conversation. Lily opened her mouth to speak again, this time asking about the Charms homework, which she knew James hadn't finished, but James spoke first.

"I'm sorry about…well everything—everything in fifth year with Sniv…Severus." They both had stopped walking. Lily was utterly shocked. That day had never been brought up.

"It's alright."

"It's not. I shouldn't have done that to him and then what he said to you I…" he sighed. "I apologize." Lily again could not believe it. For James Potter to apologize for hurting Snape was unbelievable. Her friendship was heading down the wrong path with Severus, but James didn't need to know that.

"Apology accepted." James smiled slightly. It was even more attractive than his smirk.

"Truce," he held out his hand. Lily thought about it for a minute. It was just a handshake. This didn't mean they were going to…be friends or anything. It just meant they would be civil.

"Truce," he placed her hand in his and shook it. For a second, she didn't want to let go. She felt her cheeks redden and turned away as quickly as possible.

"Do you want to get a drink before we go back to school?" asked Fred as he, Alice, and Lily walked down the street of Hogsmeade. Lily and Alice both nodded. They made their way to the Three Broomsticks. "How do you think you did on your Transfiguration Essay?" asked Alice.

"I think it was alright. Admittedly I didn't put as much effort into it as I should have. I was putting more focus on my Potions…OW!" a snowballed collided with Lily's head.

"Are you alright?" asked Alice. Lily laughed.

"I'm fine."

Suddenly James Potter came running up to them. Lily froze. "Sorry about that, who did it hit?" he asked out of breathe looking from Alice, to Lily, to Frank.

"Me," answered Lily.

"Sorry, Wormtail…Peter's got no aim," he smiled.

"It's alright," she almost smiled back. His smile was infectious. "No harm done," she finished before turning back towards the Three Broomsticks Frank and Alice in tow.

"I'm starving," said Lily asked she settled down to dinner at the Great Hall.

"Me too," said Frank who chose a seat across from her. "I skipped lunch to finish my History of Magic Essay."

"I thought you were going to do that last night?"

"Well, I was…" he looked toward Alice who was smiling as she sat down next to him "But I…found a few distractions."

"We took a walk out by the lake," Alice answered Lily's questioning face.

"Well we wouldn't be late, if Wormtail didn't leave his book in the dungeon." Lily could hear Sirius scolding Peter. "Where to sit, where to sit?" Lily quickly scanned the table, which was almost filled with students. There was, however, a large gap next to her and another next to Frank and Alice.

"Please, don't sit here. Please don't sit here," Lily begged the Marauders in her mind. Her attempts were futile. In no longer than two seconds later, she could here Sirius behind her.

"Ah, lovely," he sat down next to her. "Evening Evans," he smiled. "Longbottom, Alice," he acknowledged Frank and Alice. Frank smiled back. Alice smiled an annoyed smile back. Peter sat down next to Sirius. James took up the space next to Frank and Remus, the space next to him.

Except for maybe a few times in first year, before James had enough time to aggravate her, Lily had never sat that close to James—ever. It was very strange. She felt as if she were seeing something she wasn't supposed to see and hearing things she shouldn't hear. Sirius was talking about the planned escapades for the evening and loudly enough for everyone to hear. James was rather quiet, clearly only half paying attention. He spent most of the night looking down at his plate. Every few moments his eyes would rise to look at Lily.

Lily was fairly quiet for the rest of the night only half listening to the conversations around her. Every few seconds she would look up at James, who was also being very quiet. However, every other few seconds his eyes would lift and she'd look away. Alice seemed to notice this and nudged Lily gently. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes," Lily answered looking at Alice for only a few minutes before looking back to her plate.

Sirius continued rambling on taking no notice to James and Lily's odd behavior. Neither did Peter. He was too busy hanging on Sirius' every word. Remus, however, did notice. He didn't address the situation, but was aware that Lily and James kept glancing at each other and avoiding eye contact.

It was nearly midnight. Lily had just woken up after falling asleep about two hours previous on her Defense against the Dark Arts textbook. She imagined that Alice had tried to wake her, but Lily knew it would have been a failed attempt. She was a very heavy sleeper. The common room seemed empty. She stood up to leave and was startled by another student sitting on the floor by the window—James Potter furiously flipping through pages of his Herbology book. At the sound of her movement he turned around. "Oh Lily, I'm sorry if I woke you."

"N-no, you didn't," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find the name of this plant for Herbology for my essay. I know Professor Sprout said it, but I can't remember. It starts with an S. I just used it for a draught not too long ago…"

"Scurvy-grass?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, yeah that's it, thanks!" he closed the book and headed for the stairs meeting Lily at the bottom of the staircase. "Ladies first."

"Why were you sitting on the floor?"

"I didn't want to wake you." Lily felt the heat in her cheeks again.

"Oh…well, thanks," she hurried up the stairs.

"Afternoon," Lily's sweet voice greeted Remus as he awoke in the hospital wing.

"Is it already?" he laughed. "I've slept the day away, not that there's much else to do."

"Do you want me to get that book from the library for you?" she asked.

"No, it's alright," he sat up.

"How are you feeling?" Lily asked.

"Not any worse than any other time," he answered. "You're not missing lunch are you?"

"Oh no, I grabbed something from the Great Hall before I came. Oh, I should have gotten you something…"  
>"It's ok. I never really have an appetite around this time." Lily grabbed his arm sympathetically. "Did I miss anything in Charms today?"<p>

"Not much, Professor Flitwick decided that we should review…"

"Afternoon Moony, I…" greeted a familiar voice. James Potter rounded the corner.

"Oh," he clearly didn't think anyone would be there seeing it was lunch.

"Hi," Lily said.

"Err…hi," he said ruffling his hair. "I can come back later."

"Oh no, it's alright," said Lily getting up from her chair next to Remus' bed.

"No, it's fine," said James backing out of the room. "I'll just come back up later with Padfoot and Wormtail. Moony, I'll bring you some dessert from dinner."

"Thanks mate," said Remus as James awkwardly backed out of the room.

Lily found herself staring at the ground again hoping the sudden pinkness of her cheeks had gone away.

"It's ok if you like him you know."

"What?" Lily was sure she didn't hear Remus correctly.

"It's alright if you like James," he said even more clearly.

"Jam…Potter, oh Remus, that's ridiculous, he's so…"

"Lily, I think you're forgetting I am his best mate. I know he has good qualities and I think you do too." Lily was silent. "Don't worry, Sirius and Peter haven't noticed," he reassured her, "but I'm pretty sure your friend Alice knows. She saw you two at dinner the other night."

"Nothing happened at dinner."

"You barely looked up from your plate and James hardly ate or spoke, and you and I both know that is highly out of character for him. Plus, every minute one of you was looking at the other."

"You do like him don't you? Don't insult my intelligence."

"I…" Lily couldn't believe this. In truth, she had known it all along, but she had never admitted it to herself. Ever since she saw him on the Hogwarts express he looked _different_. He was taller, more handsome, more mature. His smile and laugh were infectious. She'd never admired his talent for flying before. She'd always liked his hazel eyes…after years of being tormented and chased by James Potter, after telling him off once and for all, after erasing him from her life, now she chose to like him.

She sighed, "I suppose I do."

"Would you go out with him?"

"Who are you, Sirius now?" she smacked Remus lightly scolded him for his question.

"No, no," he laughed, "I just…" he took a moment to gather his words, "I just want you both to be happy."

"Well that's very sweet of you, but I could never date him."

"Why not?"

"It's a matter of principle."

"A matter of principle?"

"Yes. I told him I'd rather date the giant squid than him, I didn't want anything to do with someone like him."

"That was two years ago," Remus argued. "You've both changed."

"But I still said it."

"Sometimes what we say doesn't match how we feel." Lily was silent again. What Remus was saying made sense. She had been fighting whatever she felt for James for the principle of the matter—she said she would never date someone like him and she wouldn't, but that wasn't making her happy. It was making her damn near miserable.

"Maybe you're right." Remus smiled.  
>"Just give him time now. He'll come around and ask again soon. You might want to start talking to him a bit though."<p>

The bell for class rang. Lily got up from her chair.

"You are a true friend Remus," she kissed him on the forehead. "And wise beyond your years, I don't know what you see in that crowd you hang around with," she flashed him a smile before leaving.

Lily was boarding the Hogwarts Express for Christmas break. She was hurrying to the carriages hoping see would get the same on as Alice and Frank whom she'd told go ahead of her because she was taking so long to pack. The carriage began to pull away just as she reached it. She quickly climbed inside and sat down. "Morning, Evans." Lily looked up to Sirius smiling at her. Remus was sitting next to him and Peter next to him. She shifted her eyes to the left and saw that James was sitting next to her. She folded her hands on her lap. She thought about what Remus said. "Morning," she replied.

"What are your plans for Christmas?" Remus asked breaking the ice.

"Just stay at my house. I visit my aunt on New Years. And you?"

"Oh, just quiet holiday with my parents as well," Remus smiled. Here was the moment for her to break the ice.

"And you?" she turned to James meeting his eyes. He was caught off guard.

"Me? Oh…spending it with my folks and Sirius."

"I live with him," Sirius answered before Lily could ask.

"And you Peter?"

"I'm going to my grandparents'," Peter answered quickly. Lily smiled.

"Is there a party at your aunt's or do you just stay with her?" James asked.

"A party," Lily answered. "My entire family goes."

The carriage came to a stop. "Ladies first," Sirius gestured for Lily to exit first. She waited for Marauders to exit.

"Merry Christmas, Remus," she said her voice muffled in a hug.

"Merry Christmas," she nodded to Sirius, James, and Peter who wished her a Merry Christmas back. They all headed toward the platform, Sirius taking the lead, tailed closely by Peter. Remus quickened his pace to get ahead of James.

James and Lily reach the train at the same time. "Merry Christmas James," Lily smiled this time looking him in the eye.

"Merry Christmas Lily," he said messing up his hair.

Lily walked down the corridor searching for Alice and Frank. She wondered how things would be when they arrived back at school, but she had a feeling things might be different.


End file.
